by
Chaplain Steve SullivanThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

09:36 AM, Friday, October 25 2013 | 970 views | 0 | 15 | |

I try to stay in touch with all of the newest lingo on ESPN and social media. I’d like to think I was pretty “clutch” in the pulpit last Sunday when I got a chance fill in for my pastor. I have to admit that one thing I just don’t get is the obsession with Fantasy Football.

Fantasy football teams have emerged and taken over the sports world. Every week, 32 million people follow 16 different games with over 100 players to determine how many points they scored with their fantasy team and who they should try to get rid of before the next game. They cannot simply watch a game and “pull for the Dolphins,” even though that might be their favorite team. They may want the Dolphins to win, but there might be someone on the opposing team whom they have on their fantasy team that they need to do well. So watching football becomes a complicated endeavor of mixed loyalties. I think this generation of fantasy sports activists is part of the same “post-modern” mindset of not wanting to commit to any one ideology, authority, or church “team.”

According to recent Pew Forum research, when asked about their religious affiliation, 1/3 of those under 30 identified themselves as “nones”; that is, they have no religious affiliation. I’m impressed at the ability of young people to think critically about their options and to choose those that they believe are best for them. But I’m concerned that this generation may suffer the effects of a lack of true community. There is no one team or community that they can pull for and be supported by day in and day out. As a minister, I’ve often felt that we are like fantasy football players. We are chosen for our clergy skills but are at the spiritual whim of all.

We can easily be “traded” or discarded if we fail to perform the right way on Sunday. We all truly need a team or community that we can be loyal to and that will be loyal to us, no matter what.

In our work with returning veterans, we have realized that one of the most important factors helping veterans truly reintegrate is a caring community. There is probably no community unit tighter than the military. They are willing to fight and die to keep each other alive. But they return home to communities that are often divided and disinterested. They don’t need a “fantasy” football team. They need a “reality” community. They, like all of us, need the support, consistency, and grace of a community and family that cares about them no matter what kind of numbers they put up on Sunday. In this world where everyone is friended or de-friended at the touch of a keypad, and football teams are chosen based on what each person can do for my team, may we be a community and team that others and ourselves can depend on always, win or lose.